feb 13 2020 #haiku #micropoetry #vss

~

galactic star shine

riding moon beams seen unseen

on the way back home

image by wongsusie with no money

feb 18 2020 #storytelling #micropoetry #vss

~

moon beams

reflect on sacred waters

in an interplay of light

undulating waves

enliven their shimmering and dancing

in a mezmerizing

path of oneness

guiding me home

jan 31 2020 #storytelling #micropoetry #vss

~

floating

soothing

gentle waves

rocking her

night sky smiles down

she opens starless eyes

to be greeted with moon beams

and star glow

as she contemplates the cosmos

she realizes

for the very first time

that the brightest stars

shine within her 🌟💓

PSA – for anyone feeling inconvenienced by the #Wetsuweten peaceful protests

~

I keep hearing about all the non-Indigenous people that are upset by the Wet’suwet’en peaceful protests. How they are being inconvenienced by the protests – how some are upset they can’t get home or to work.

The Wet’suwet’en have been greatly inconvenienced in being denied access to their homes and territory. How would you feel if you went to head home and RCMP denied you access to your home but let complete strangers (e.g. ice fisherman) go on to your land with no issue while you remained locked out?

Other Indigenous people have been inconvenienced in not being able to go home or to their work (which also sustains them – feeds them, etc…) these past five centuries being placed on small tracts of inhospitable land away from their homelands?

How inconvenienced have Indigenous people been having their land stolen and/or having their sacred sites and their ancestor’s bones being destroyed?

How about the inconvenience for the Indigenous people with boil water advisories of over ten years?

I read in the news how the rail lines being blocked may prevent chlorine getting to the cities and how we may not have clean drinking water – how we may get to experience firsthand what some Indigenous people have been living with for far too long. Ironic.

How many Indigenous parents have been inconvenienced in having their children stolen from them by the Canadian govt?

There are more indigenous children in govt custody today than at the height of indian residential school.

How about the inconvenience for some Indigenous women who are emotionally blackmailed into having forced sterilziations (yes it’s still happening today!) before they are allowed to ever see their children again?

How about the inconvenience of Indigenous children having thousands of dollars less (vs. non-Indigenous kids) allocated to them per year for education?

How about the inconvenience of the issue of over 3,000 missing murdered Indigenous women, girls, trans, two spirit that isn’t being addressed in any meaningful way?

How about the inconvenience of going hungry when food costs up north that are easily ten times the amount they are in the major cities?

How about the inconvenience of laws put in place to prevent hunting for seal when it is a needed food source and the govt’s inability to acknowledge that it is a necessary income stream for Inuit to be able to pay for gas, etc that enables them to hunt to get food?

I can go on but sometimes it takes something like these peaceful protests and being inconvenienced for people to pay attention to the reality that is happening in their own back yard.

Inconveniencing people is not the focus of the protests – the protests (mainly the railways) are intentional to interfere with the economy as money is the only language the govt speaks or pays attention to and yes, in that process some people are being inconvenienced but there’s really no comparison to what Indigenous people have had to endure nor the attempted genocide we endure daily.

Also, for those confused about the Wet’suwet’en protests and that may have seen some ads by CGL with some indigenous supporting the pipeline:

-The Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs that are protesting peacefully are responsible for their land and for making decisions about their land:

“The Wet’suwet’en people have already put forward their hereditary chiefs to speak for the territory, during the 1997 case Delgamuukw v The Queen. They were also recognized by the Supreme Court of Canada as the representative of the collective land rights holders in that decision, the first comprehensive account of Aboriginal title in the country.”

Source: Macleans The Wet’suwet’en are more united than pipeline backers want you to think

In order to resolve this issue the RCMP must leave Wet’suwet’en territory and there needs to be real action and equal Nation (Indigenous) to Nation (Canada) discussion.

The Canadian govt needs to respect Indigenous governance and stop refusing to meet and talk – I see out in Ontario at the railway blockade that is costing the country $$ the govt has finally agreed to meet.

Sadly money is the only language the govt speaks so that is what these protests are happening for – not to inconvenience people but to force the govt to address this by actually meeting with the *hereditary chiefs that are responsible for the majority of this land that will be negatively impacted by the pipeline.

Wet’suwet’en peaceful protests are by the same hereditary chiefs that the *SCOC (Supreme Court of Canada) acknowledges and their rights are the Indigenous rights that are a part of the Canadian Constitution Section 35 per UNDRIP that dictate the govt has the duty to consult with Indigenous people and more than that, the rule of law that needs to be followed is Indigenous law and Indigenous human rights as this supersedes any colonial law that came after and please remember, this land is unceded.

Lastly, people need to wake up to the fact that this pipeline would put aquifers and the ocean at risk.

We all need clean water to drink and air to breath – the ocean provides every second breath you take (from ocean algae) so these peaceful protests are to protect our planet and thus they are for all of us, not just for Indigenous people. This pipeline will put the last surviving coastal rainforest, the dwindling salmon populations, as well as the southern resident orca whales (that are almost extinct) all at risk.

There’s a reason the Canadian govt wouldn’t allow the two year examination on the risks of this pipeline as recommended and instead cut it short with ridiculously tight deadlines not providing any time for the Wet’suwet’en people to respond with all the facts that were needed.

There is no plan(et) B.

Edited Feb. 21, 2020 to add above that the RCMP need to leave and also more below, on how the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs and traditional governance system works – source:  https://youtu.be/y0vOg72mhaE

Per *Gidimt’en spokeswoman, Molly Wickham, there are 5 clans of the Wet’suwet’en that are opposed to the pipeline. The 5 hereditary chiefs represent and are speakers on behalf of these 5 clans.

There are 13 house chiefs (4 of those positions are vacant) that represent 5 clans of the Wet’suwet’en Nation.

The rest of the hereditary chiefs have unanimously and transparently, and with accountability gone up in their feast hall (according to Wet’suwet’en law) with the whole community in attendance and have stated over and over again that they are opposed to this pipeline specifically and to all pipelines throughout their territory.

It’s not some small rogue group (e.g. news reporting it’s just 5 people) that some are trying to suggest and to say this proves that the govt isn’t recognizing/respecting their inherent Indigenous governance systems.

It is a matter of who has the authority to speak and all hereditary chiefs and house chiefs (the speakers for the houses) have been united on this in their feast hall.

*Gidimt’en is 1 of the 5 clans of the Wet’suwet’en Nation that is opposed to the pipeline.

jan 22 2019 #micropoetry #vss #mpy

~

there were no choices

so many silenced voices

those that disappeared

those that were taken

when the nightmare is true

survival ruled

what can you do

offering self instead

refused

taking it all

just to get through

survivor guilt

becomes you

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

this poem honours those from my past that didn’t make it.

 

it’s a miracle I made it through so I know Creator kept me alive for a reason.

jan 31 2020 #storytelling #poetry

~

a child

lived among

the hungry

& the dead

they took them

took them away

names lost on the wind

they sold them

pimped em

ground down

their souls

till they were

dust lost on the wind

but

she

remembers

& they’ll never

take that away

scars scream

how they tried

feb 14 2020b #micropoetry #vss #love

~

wild flowers were wound into her hair

she smelled of cinnamon and mysteries

her eyes speckled with flecks of gold

mimicking the cosmos

her dimples were the x that marked the spot

to ensure she got

butterfly kisses

buttercup wishes

and her sighs that never ended